Domaining Conferences On A Budget

As a part-time domainer who loves the domaining community, I have decided to try and attend a conference this year to network with others in the industry.  Although I would love to attend every conference which pertains to domaining, I am unable to do so, due to the amount of money I budget towards my company’s domaining division.

There are a number of others who are also in the same boat as me.  I felt it was important to discuss such a topic since I am now faced with it head on.  Here is the plan I have come up with for myself.

1.  Choose one domaining conference to attend.

This has been an extremely tough choice for me.  TRAFFIC, DOMAINfest and Domainer Mardi Gras all look like great opportunities to network with industry professionals.  After meeting Susan Smith and Jim Grace during our first Southern California Domaining Meetup I have decided to attend DOMAINfest.  The mere fact that two representatives from Oversee / Domain Sponsor showed up to our first meetup meant a great deal to me.

I will not need to pay anything for room or board because of the fact that I live around 15 minutes away from Santa Monica.  This is a major plus for me as it allows me to allocate the money saved to future domaining activities.

2.  Be within reach for the other conference or conference(s).

Now that brings me to an interesting point.  Although I will not be attending the formal TRAFFIC conference I have still decided to book a room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.  The total for the 2 day stay runs $154.68 after taxes and service fees.  This is a dynamite deal.  Since I will be staying in the same hotel where the conference is being held, I will have ample opportunity to network with other domainers.  I will be in Vegas from January 22nd to the 24th.  I would of gotten there on the 21st but there is an important event I need to go to here in Los Angeles for the Web Hosting Industry Review.

On top of that I have scheduled an evening to hang out with a few domainers from the local socal group.  We will be able to discuss ideas, network and enjoy a few drinks as well as the Vegas nightlife.  We might even hold an informal meetup in Las Vegas for those which are attending TRAFFIC.

*Now I am not sure where Domainer Mardi Gras will fit into this picture.  I don’t think I will be able to attend the event this year, although this might change.

3.   Setup a local domaining meetup a few days before DOMAINfest.

Morgan and I definitely setup a local domaining meetup at the right time.  This was completely by accident.  The ball started rolling in December and next thing you know the two biggest conferences in the domaining industry appeared to take place in January.  At this moment we have around 20 people coming to our meetup.  Some inviduals are a part of the group and others are in from out of town attending DOMAINfest.  This again provides me with an ample opportunity to network with others without breaking the bank!   I am a firm believer in interacting with people.  Many business relationships will be formed during this time period.

We also reached out to freshdrop.net, who was more than willing to help sponsor the meetup.  Although members tend to take care of there own bills it is always helpful to have a sponsor lift the burden a bit.  After all, we have members driving all the way from San Diego to attend!

4.  Setup important meetings and appointments ahead of time.

This brings me to my last point.  In order to effectively utilize my time and stay on budget I am currently reaching out to domainers which will be attending both TRAFFIC and DOMAINfest.  There a are a couple of individuals I would like to meet and I will be reaching out to them before I get to Vegas or attend DOMAINfest.  This will help me keep track of time and reserve any reservations that need to be made, so we aren’t just waiting around.

Maybe this entry can help a few other domainers who are on a tight budget.  I am looking forward to meeting everyone, although I am sure there won’t be enough time for that.